Life Change

We even lived in the town where I was raised and family was still close. Granted, the job demanded a lot and work/life balance was not a ‘thing’ yet but I thought it was going pretty well.

One Sunday afternoon, I was in the yard with my son playing tag. He was 6 and tag with only two people is relentless.

After tiring, I bent over to catch my breath, I really could not continue. With my hands on my knees, panting, my son put his hand on my arm and asked, “Daddy, are you okay?”

I was not in any danger, medically speaking, but I was way too tired based on the activity. I thought, “How am I going to play with his children someday if I cannot even play with him now?”

That was it, I knew I could afford to lose maybe 20 lbs and that carrying it around was no longer an option; I probably needed some cardio – I did not even know how I intended to proceed. I had no plan but I have resolve.

I made a plan that started that week. I would track my calories and eat 500-600 less than was required to maintain my weight. Also, I would start jogging, which started with a 3/4 mile loop in my neighborhood, that i could not complete without walking or stopping.

In 52 weeks I lost 52 lbs, like clockwork.

It began with me jog/walking the block in my neighborhood that was 0.7 miles, until I could run the whole lap, and eventually farther.

At the end of that 52 weeks I was capable of running 6 miles on my long-run day. It seemed like a long time then, but not so much now when looking back.